YOU ARE WORTH EVERYTHING TO GOD

I will be your God
throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.
Isaiah 46:4 NLT
~~~~~

Do we have worth beyond the years we can make a meaningful contribution to society? What about that phase of life when others may consider us just an inconvenience or an expense to be avoided, will we still have worth?

“1.3 million abortions are performed in the US each year.”(1) The motivations for those abortions, no doubt, are varied. But without question, for many, inconvenience and/or the expense of raising the child, was a deciding factor. The child was considered not worth it.

On the other end of the life cycle “there are about 16,500 nursing homes certified to provide Medicare and/or Medicaid care in the United States, with approximately 1.8 million total beds. About 3.5 million people will live in a nursing home in the course of a year.”(2)

Go to any nursing home and you will find people who go weeks and months without a visitor. Aren’t they worth the effort? At times even their children find themselves “too busy” with their own families to stop by for a visit. Some are even scheming how they can end this drain on their inheritance.

But I am sure there are many nursing home residents whose loved ones would do anything to bless them. I know an elderly gentleman (let’s call him Carl) whose wife had Alzheimer’s. When he couldn’t take care of her at home any more, he admitted her to a nursing home. He drove miles to visit her regularly even when she didn’t know him any more. When she had to be spoon fed, Carl was there every day to lovingly feed her. This went on for over a year until the Lord took her Home. For Carl this wasn’t too inconvenient or time consuming. She was more than worth it all!

We live in a world where the unwanted unborn, the severely impaired, and the elderly are increasingly seen as a liability rather than an asset to society. The reasoning is - why spend time, energy, and money on something which will not yield an economic return.

Our heavenly father has a different set of values. He says, “I saw you as having infinite worth when I formed you in your mother’s womb. The cross shows how much worth you are to me, whether you are a youth, a helpless invalid, or in your white haired 80’s or 90’s. You are worth everything to me, that’s why I sacrificed my Son to save you.”(3)

Let’s Pray –
Thank you Father, that you consider us precious, even if others may not consider us worth their effort. We are so grateful that “Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue us all the days of our life.”(4)
Amen

Footnote:
(1) (Source: Finer LB and Henshaw SK, Estimates of U.S. Abortion Incidence in 2001 and 2002, Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2005)
(2) McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living
(3) Paraphrase of various scriptures
(4)Psalm 23:6 NLT